Love him or loathe him, Adam Sandler has on the rare occasion made some very enjoyable and equally memorable movies. For me "Happy Gilmore" is probably one of his better comedies, although I am sure this is down to the fact it was also one of the first movies I saw from his ever increasing resume and so everything about it was still somewhat fresh. But saying that, even now when I chose to watch "Happy Gilmore" there is something about it which stands out from all Sandler's other movies.

Wannabe Ice hockey player Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler - You Don't Mess with the Zohan) finds his life going into crisis mode when he is rejected by the local Ice Hockey team, his girlfriend leaves him and his Grandma who he loves dearly is about to lose her house for failure to pay taxes. But all is not lost as he discovers he has an amazing ability to smack a golf ball further than anyone else and under the guidance of Chubbs (Carl Weathers - Predator), a golf pro, he plans to win the money to save his Grandma from losing her home. The only thing is, is the golf establishment ready for Happy's wild antics.

To say the storyline to "Happy Gilmore" is weak maybe a bit harsh but it is wafer thin and in all reality it is the comedy which carries this movie. But then "Happy Gilmore" was never really going to be about whether Happy would save the day but how much Sandler could make us laugh with some set piece gags and the idea of a rowdy Ice Hockey player disrupting the seemingly sedate world of golf. Despite being weak the storyline does give us a set up and motivation for Happy's crusade, it's just by half way through this 88 minute comedy we no longer really care about it, we are just waiting for the next laugh. Plus, we can guess the outcome long before we get there as this is in essence a feel good movie and to deliver anything but a predictable ending would go against Hollywood's code for such movies.

Whether you will find "Happy Gilmore" funny depends on whether you like Sandler's style of angry comedy and also whether you have now become bored of pretty much the same jokes littered through out the majority of his comedies. For me, although I have become a little bored of Sandler and his jokes, the comedy in "Happy Gilmore" still works well enough to make me laugh. A lot of the humour does revolve around Sandler's trademark shouting and basically acting like a petulant child, but amongst the usual stuff there are some funny moments. Watching the crowd go wild when Happy smacks a drive is indeed very funny and the reactions of those around him also makes this stand out from his other movies. Unlike in his other movies, Sandler manages to share some of the comedy moments with those around him, and this really does help to make "Happy Gilmore" seem a little different.

What always annoys me with Sandler's comedies is that his characters are all the same and that is no different with "Happy Gilmore". Again we see Sandler play the drop-out, the dreamer, the layabout, all characteristics which he fills many a character he has played. Yes he may be pretty good at this but it is getting rather repetitive and is one of the reasons why some will find "Happy Gilmore" boring. To be honest I couldn't really find any reason to be routing for the character of Happy, but then not for a single moment do I believe any great thought when into creating this character and all the emphasis is on the comedy rather than anything else.

Where "Happy Gilmore" does work for me is that it is not filled with Sandler's mates filling up the supporting roles and doing the same things over and over again. With the exception of Allen Covert who must have appeared in 99% of Sandler's comedies, the rest of the supporting characters are filled with fresh faces such as the funny Christopher McDondald as pro golfer Shooter Mc Gavin, the strangely funny Carl Weathers as Chubbs and the delightful Julie Bowen as golf tournament organiser Virginnia who ends up being the not so surprising love interest. All these actors put in far superior performances to Sandler's mates and with the inclusion of cameos from several celebrities and professional golfers this film is much better for it.

Finally, it would be wrong not to mention the sporting side of "Happy Gilmore" or lack of it seeing that it is based around the world of Golf. In some ways you could compare this to the much superior "Caddyshack" another golf movie which concentrated more on events away from the course than on it, as this aspect is true of "Happy Gilmore". Yes, we see a fair bit of golf, but not in the sense of a normal sports movie and it is there only to provide a back drop for the jokes. "Happy Gilmore" is more akin to crazy golf than professional golf and in my opinion would not alienate anyone who is not familiar with the game.

What this all boils down to is that whilst "Happy Gilmore" is pretty much the same as all of Sandler's other comedies and suffers from the same problems which plague them, I still like this more than most. The comedy is at it's best predictable, and Sandler does his usual shouting, which granted is not everybody's cup of tea, but unlike in his other movies everything seems to work together rather than in isolation. Whether you enjoy this or not is down to whether you are a fan of Sandler and his style comedy or are bored of the repetitiveness of his movies.